ND/508 October Timeline
<-- Full --> ; - 18th of September to 3rd of October, 508 :In Zerniless on October 1st, Cohort Vertex organizes a scratch cohort of 8 centuries of second line troops and details Princeps Primorus to escort Knight-Princeps Gragrash and the Nightfangs into the mountains to convince the last orc hold-outs at Ganuturin and Zirakirkat Mine to surrender or die. :In , the Dragonkin Legion marches south from Sheroyhor on the 1st. On the 2nd, the mana levels return to normal and the Legion forces are less than 30 miles away from the forces at Catonodo, marching in good order and prepared for an attack. :On the 3rd, the Luminal takes his dragon and regiment of imps and flying demons and flies south for a reconnaissance in force of Catonodo. , , , , , and mount their flying steeds and prepare to attempt to assassinate the Luminal. ; , , - 3rd of October 508 : , , , , , and fight Scather Wyrmson, Luminal commander of the Dragonkin Legion, and his dragon Thaxosar. After Ariana destroys Scather's weapons, Sven runs him through with a lance, killing him. Sven, Ariana, and Zarathras combine to wear down Thaxosar and eventually kill him. Although Sven and Nesta are wounded in the fight, neither of them are seriously wounded. ; - 3rd of October 508 :The imp regiment falls back in good order after Scather's death, and the Dragonkin Legion under General Magolon Genduath continues their march and begins to invest Catonodo in good order. , , , lipoca, , and leave the fortress before the castle is encircled, and make their way to the headquarters of Brurg's Bloodhounds. With the help of Resistance sympathizer Eduardo, they search Brurg's tent for orders and forge an order for Brurg to assault the walls in an few hours. Unsupported by the rest of the Legion, Brurg is effectively ambushed by thousands of Liberation archers and his force takes heavy casualties. ; - 3rd of October 508 : , , , lipoca, , and 's magical communication with Catonodo is detected by the Imperial Command Staff, and a handful of nobles are dispatched to find and destroy the enemy spellcasters. Greex and Nesta spot them on arrival and lead them away from the orc camp. The nobles are ambushed at a barn, and after a violent fight, four of them are blinded and dying. The fifth, Thalanil Aranimestel, is captured. ; - 3rd of October to 8th of October, 508 :Under the cover of Brurg's assault, , , , lipoca, , and make their way back into Catonodo, bringing their prisoner and other loot with them. :General Magolon launches a several feints against Catonodo's walls, forcing Trahaern to divert troops from the destruction of the Bloodhounds. He then attempts to retire back to his lines, and beats off Trahaern's sortie. At dawn, both armies regard each other from their fortifications. :Magolon hastily reorganizes his forces, crucifying Brurg and appointing new officers to take command of the remnants of the Bloodhounds. , , , , and interrogate Thalanil and learn that Magolon is unlikely to get more reinforcements. In the late afternoon, a council of war decides to send a feint out at dawn, with plans to either force a battle on the Liberation's terms or raid the supplies of one of the orc camps. :Magolon launches a second, much more professional assault after dark on the 4th. Trahaern organizes a conventional defense. Over two days, the orcs take heavy casualties but gain little ground, and Magolon returns to his lines just before dawn on the 7th. He immediately takes the shattered remnants of the Dragonkin Legion north. :The Liberation spends a few hours recovering their wounded and marshalling supplies, and then pursues. The orcs flee faster than the Liberation Army can follow, and the Liberation Army breaks off short of Sheroyhor. It is clear that Magolon is pulling in more forces from the Menkgu countryside, but it seems unlikely he can gain enough force to threaten the Liberation in the field again. ; - 9th of October to the 13th of October, 508 :The leaders of the Liberation hold a council of war and decide to pursue and destroy Magolon and then liberate south and central . With that accomplished, they hope to hold their lines for the winter while negotiating alliances with the and . :On the 10th, they march on Magolon's forces at Sheroyhor and besiege him. Over three days of battle, they carry the castle walls by main force, destroying the remnants of the Dragonkin. Magolon and Arcane-General Cuthor teleport out to Toridy Jiman and begin fleeing north to find a new defensive position. ; - 13th of October to the 20th of October, 508 :After concluding the siege of Sheroyhor, the leaders receive reports that in is stirring, confiscating food stores and performing powerful magic. , , , , , and take the cavalry elements of the 2nd Legion north to pursue Magolon, while , , , , , and lipoca head for Zerniless. The rest of the 2nd reorganizes their formations and prepares to the advance toward Puttayos and central . : 's forces reach Uran Padoru on the 14th, finding the citadel abandoned and the city on fire. Goblin wolf-riders stayed behind to murder anyone attempting to fight the flames, and Ariana and Hloomawl detach from the force to assist. Sven recklessly charges after Magolon and overtakes him just before dark on the 16th at Metoredunny. Magolon's attempt at an ambush fails, but light cavalry forces are no match for several companies of infantry with a castle to defend. Sven breaks contact as quickly as he can and retreats down the road to await the rest of the 2nd Legion. :The other leaders attempt to take the flying boat to Vukdarned, but unpredictable twisted mana causes the boat to divert into the desert. They are captured by s under , who tries to take them hostage. Eventually Cartwright and Aisling manage to establish that the Liberation would gladly give the Reptilians whatever they need in exchange for fighting against the Empire, and the leaders are released. is sent off as an ambassador. :Princeps Primorus Namdal's cohort returns to Cernabazina with a few more Night Fangs and is immediately sent to Nadhern Villed and into the depths of the Keveteen Sema to make the same offer to the last few Black Drakes. :The leaders take stagecoaches to Karlmost and then meet up with relays of light cavalry, so they reach Cernabazina on the 19th. and have already staged a raid on Mitnydum, defeating a lone orc company. Trahaern takes command of the 1st Legion and leads it north, hoping to reach Clicatecesty or Voyity Chol before Gravecall's forces can reinforce those fortresses. Cartwright, Attivi, Trahaern, Greex, Sif-Fus, and a few scouts head southeast, hoping to make contact with the Reptilians of the Keveteen Basin. ; - 21st of October to the 28th of October, 508 : waits in Uran Padoru for the 2nd Legion to finish reorganizing, and they join him there on the 23rd. He advances cautiously on Metoredunny, arriving on the 26th to find that the orcs have abandoned it and possibly Taipuchy. The 2nd Legion infantry advances to the Zav River with orders to set up fortifications while cavalry patrols are sent to Taipuchy, Duckator, Gedupedo, and Guwusay to confirm the presence or absence of orcs. : , , , , lipoca, and venture into the swamps of the Keveteen Basin and spend several days trudging east, finding no and surprisingly little wildlife. Late on the 23rd, they encounter Pes-Moz, the leader of a small band of hunters. He reports that the moon witch (presumably ) has sealed the eastern half of the Basin off with a long line of necromantic towers and a wall of necromantic energy that kills anything that passes through it; to his knowledge, his band are the only reptilians west of the wall. He knows that destroying a tower will temporarily destroy the wall; he also knows that the Reptilians do not have the resources to destroy a tower. However, a tower that is nigh impenetrable to neolithic tribals is no big deal to a raging dinosaur encased in fine steel plate; Hloomawl and wreck the tower in seconds. Pes-Moz sends his hunters through the gap and promises to have all the Reptilians of the Basin west of the wall by the 16th of November. :Trahaern returns to his army on the 25th and they resume their advance, taking Voyity Chol the next day. Over 12,000 zombies, backed by three regiments of orcs, are marching down from Clicatecesty. Trahaern orders the kobold sappers to mine the Imperial Highway, with the plan to drop a span and complicate the Whitewer's supply situation and kill some of the horde. He will then fight a series of battles at Voyity Chol, Mitnydum, and the Cerna River, stalling for time and shredding the Whitewers with hopefully minimal losses to his own forces. The peasant population starts evacuating. On the evening of the 28th, the Whitewers are at the gates of Voyity Chol. :Princep Primorus Namdal's cohort rejoins the Legion on the 27th. ; - 28th of October, 508 to the 2nd of November :The 2nd Legion cavalry scouts continue on to Guwusay and Duckator, without encountering any orcs. The ferry at Guwusay has been burnt at the north side. : approaches , , , , lipoca, and , complaining that some of the orc mages are overdue for training but can't be sent west. After some confusion, the leaders discover that the braided cords worn by spellcasters change color as they "gain more experience" and presumably suffer the effects of corruption. Aisling checks several of the spellcasters in the Nightbloods and sidelines them as they are probably insane. :That evening, the Whitewers force arrives, 12,000 zombies screened by a few hundred es and followed by three regiments of orcs. Trahaern and hold the outer defenses briefly before falling back into the fortress, but Aisling charges out to raid the enemy and ends up surrounded. Trahaern and Kaja sally out again, and Aisling's force cuts their way back into the fortress by dawn. The kobolds sappers drop their mined section over a culvert, stranding several hundred zombies on the wrong side. The zombies are destroyed before their necromancers can regain control. Within hours, the undead renew their assault, and Trahaern and Kaja pull their forces out while Aisling's forces cover the retreat. The enemy general, Ambarussa, chooses to pursue, but a constant storm grounds his imps and the Liberation army breaks contact with minimal losses. :